Kitakyushu 2018: Lingling Guo breaks three world records

“I expected to win since I am the second strongest powerlifter in the world in my category. But I am also disappointed because I could not break the world record"

If there were a real-life Wonder Woman, that could very well be Chinese powerlifter Lingling Guo.

The 29-year-old set three world records in less than 20 minutes on her way to gold in the women´s up to 45kg on day 1 (8 September) of competition at the Asia-Oceania Open Championships in Kitakyushu, Japan.

Guo opened with a 107kg lift to rapidly jump into the first place. With a fierce look, she followed that up with a convincing 111kg lift, surpassing her own world record of 110kg set at last year´s World Championships in Mexico City.

Far from feeling satisfied, she went on to lift 113kg and 114kg in her third and fourth attempts, respectively, to the delight of an astonished audience who could not believe what they were witnessing.

Indonesia´s European Open champion Ni Nengah Widiasih (101kg) came in second, while China´s Meijiao Chen (95kg) finished third.

Women´s up to 41kg

There was a Chinese one-two with Jinyun Li causing a major upset and beating reigning world champion Zhe Cui.

The latter began leading with a 93kg lift, while Li ´only´ cleared the bar at 80kg. But Cui surprisingly failed to lift 100kg in her next two attempts, and Li made the most of it. She lifted 84kg, first, and 94kg then to claim a breathtaking gold.

India´s Manpreet Kaur (73kg) secured bronze.

Men´s up to 54kg

Jian Wang gave China their third gold medal of the day thanks to a 173kg lift.

He finished ahead of Vietnam´s defending champion and Asian record-holder Binh An Nguyen, who began leading with 172kg but then failed his following two attempts.

Kazakhstan´s David Degtyarev (160kg) collected bronze.

Men´s up to 49kg

Jordan´s two-time Paralympic silver medallist Omar Qarada made the most of Rio 2016 champion Le Van Cong´s last minute withdrawal due to a shoulder injury and won the regional title with an impressive 175kg lift.

Qarada was also hoping to break the Vietnamese´s world record of 183.5kg but failed.

“I am happy for the victory,” Qarada said. “I expected to win since I am the second strongest powerlifter in the world in my category. But I am also disappointed because I could not break the world record.”

China´s 42-year-old Zheng Yu (158kg) ended second while Iran´s 19-year-old Ali Reza Izadi finished third after setting a new junior world record of 140kg.

Competition will continue on Sunday (9 September) with the women´s up to 50kg and 55kg, and the men´s up to 59kg and 65kg.

Kitakyushu 2018 is being shown live on World Para Powerlifting’s website and Facebook page.

Full results are available on the Kitakyushu 2018 website.